. >> senator carl levin and senator john mccain are managing this bill. we understand they hope to finish it in three days. that will not happen. how much more work is there to do? >> is remains to be seen. a lot needs to be sorted out behind the scenes. i do believe they would like to be finished by monday. that is where we are now. >> the house approved its defense authorization bill earlier this year. how does the senate bill differ? >> i was just speaking to some people on the house side, and they do not see any major difficulties in getting this done. last year, they were able to get a conference done in roughly nine days. i was assured they believe they can do the same this time. it does not look like it is going to be terribly contentious. both committees were trying to keep this non-controversial. as you know, we are coming to the end of the session so they need it quickly. >> do you think they will be able to do it by the end of the year? >> absolutely. >> thank you for your time. >> my pleasure. >> the senate returns on monday at 2:00 p.m. to re